1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to generally to electrical computers and data processing systems, and more particularly, to vehicle guidance, operation and indication systems. Most particular, the instant invention relates to an information processing system mounted in a vehicle for monitoring, collecting, recording and displaying vehicle usage information generated by the vehicle driver and vehicle function sensors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Computer devices for recording the number of miles travelled for specific purposes have been developed in part to meet the recording requirements of various tax laws. Example of such a devices include the mileage recording and display apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,159, issued Nov. 30, 1993, to D. L. O'Neall, and the vehicle movement monitoring system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,061, issued Aug. 4, 1987, to C. D. Whitaker. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,167, issued Oct. 17, 1989, to J. W. Price et al. also shows a device for recording trip times, dates, and odometer readings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,007, issued Sep. 3, 1991, to S. F. McCreary et al. shows a device for collecting vehicle trip data which includes means for downloading the collected data directly to a microcomputer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,652, issued Jul. 3, 1990, to J. Stiener also show a device for storing trip data in manner by which it can be transferred to a computer by a number of different transfer means.
Devices which provide a vehicle operator with information, either stored or calculated, have also been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,429, issued Jun. 30, 1987, to R. W. Glotzbach shows a device with a convenient interface for displaying recorded trip data useful to the operator. WIPO International Publication No. WO 92/13738, published Aug. 20, 1992, discloses a safety data computation device for calculating and displaying safe maximum speeds and minimum braking distances.
None of the above devices combines a motor vehicle trip data recording device with means for receiving and transmitting current data for use in calculating and displaying useful trip parameters updated by current data, thus none of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.